Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A Birth

I started writing a post last night but due to
(a) extreme fatigue including brain no-function, and
(b) a celebratory martini party with cocktail foods for dinner,
I completely failed.

So I'll try again this morning although I still have total brain no-function and am feeling as if it were all a dream because I went to bed with three other people in the house and woke up to a completely empty house but I guess it wasn't a dream because Jessie has already texted me that little August is nursing well and slept well and hardly cried after he pooped and peed a lot and spit up a bunch of mucus.
In other words, he is now cleared and ready for extra-uterine life.

This is how they looked when I left their house yesterday afternoon:


Dear god, the sweetest little family.
The birth just went so well. Jessie went into really active labor around midnight, I think, and he was born the next morning at 8:24. Jessie and Vergil were the most amazing birth couple. She had almost all back labor and he rubbed her back and put pressure on it during every contraction and the rest of the people in the house just sort of stood back and let them at it. The midwife and her ladies took vitals regularly but besides that, there was really not much to do as those two let nature have her way with them and Jessie swayed and danced and sang-moaned through her contractions. And vomited. Unfortunately, she is just like I was in that aspect. I always puked my entire way through labor and she did too, but even vomiting can help bring that baby down.
She probably drank two quarts of coconut water during the labor. Yeah, that was mostly what the rest of us did- refill her coconut water drinking bottle.

We were all there. Hank and Mr. Moon held down the basement and May and Lily and I were upstairs with the laboring mama and people took turns, snoozing and starting laundry and chatting and telling Jessie and Vergil how great they were doing and that was all we needed to do.


Dancing through contractions.


Even Greta was in attendance. The midwife, Diana, loves dogs and has a herd of them herself and we all noticed how sweet and faithful Greta was all night. She didn't get agitated or in the way, she just kept watch.


The sweet connection of these two was holy. That's the only way to describe it. 
Jessie never complained, she never once said, "I can't do this."
She just did it.

When she started feeling pushy, everything changed up a bit. Dawn was coming, the sun was coming up, the birds began singing and no, I am not making this up. This is how it happened. 

It took her an hour and a half of pushing to bring the baby out and for a first-time baby, that's pretty darn good. She was on the toilet (a laboring mother's best friend) when he crowned and Diana, being a goddess midwife, said, "Do you want to try and get back on the bed or just do it in here?" 
And Jessie wanted to just do it in there and so, that beautiful bathroom became August's birthing room. They brought in the things needed for the birth and there were five of us in there and Jessie got on her hands and knees on the floor and Diana helped him maneuver his head out and then calmly let Vergil take over, which he did, and August cried before his knees had left his mother.
And the next thing you knew, this:


And this.


And that is home birth.
The midwife is so respectful of the family and their wishes and instead of there being rules which dictate the actions and course of events, she allows things to unfold as they will, knowing that no unnecessary intervention, careful and knowing observance, good communication, and tens of thousands of years of evolution will generally lead to the best outcome for all in every way.

The little family moved to the bed and after a time, the placenta came and then the cord was cut, and juices and more coconut water and yogurt were brought to the couple and August, already an able nurser at the age of about fifteen minutes, were all happy and cuddling and safe.


Oh wait! I forgot to tell the story of his name!
Jessie and Vergil never would tell us what they were naming this child and after he was born, we were all so gobsmacked and crazy-with-joy that we completely forgot about that. Then Mr. Moon got to see his grandson (he and Hank, knowing in these situations, had come up from the basement when they knew the time for birth was close to hand-not their first rodeo) and he was already tearing up when Vergil said, "Do y'all want to know what his name is?"
And we all said, "Oh my god! He has a name too?! Of course!"
And Vergil said, "August Glinden Weatherford."
And Mr. Moon burst into tears. He had to leave the room. 
His name is Curtis Glinden Moon although he has always been called Glen. And of course, Owen's name is Owen Curtis, so...well.
Tears. More tears. Happy grandpa. 
August's newborn exam was performed and he was deemed perfect in every way. 

Everything was attended to, people left to go to work or get some sleep. Mr. Moon and Lily went out and got a thousand breakfast taquitos from the Whataburger (long story there but in short, they are the most delicious junk food you can buy and Diana and I both used to work at a Birth Center a block from a Whataburger and all of us who worked there often ended a long night with a couple of taquitos) and we dined like kings and queens with plenty of picante sauce and August...well, he nursed.

Finally it was just me and the new family and I laid down and took a little nap but woke up when August cried and did some more laundry and made a nice little chicken soup and while Jessie and Vergil ate it, I got to do this.



I told him the whole story of how he came to be ("Once upon a time there was a little girl named Jessie and she wanted to grow up and have a baby more than anything in the whole world...") and while I was rocking him, Lon and Lis came with flowers and Lis took pictures and then she said, "Who's driving you home?"
And I said..."Uh, me?"
And she said, "No you're not."
And so we got the little family into their bed, all snuggled up and we tidied up the kitchen and switched the laundry over and left them all asleep in that heavenly place which is awarded to those who have just given birth in their own home, with no one to come in and check arm bracelets and ask questions and take the baby away for tests. Just pure, sweet, well-deserved rest in their own bed. 

And Lis brought me home and eventually, the four of us were all together and we had martinis and August and Jessie and Vergil were toasted well and soundly and Lis made platters of smoked salmon and roasted chicken and vegetables and crackers and cheese and we all ate party food and then I finally collapsed and went to bed where I slept like concrete until 9:30. 

All of it was like a dream, a miracle. The birth, Lon and Lis getting to be here to celebrate with us, the utter perfection of it all.

I got to be there when Gibson met August but to be perfectly frank, he was far more interested in knowing where Greta was. I was not there when Owen got to meet him but here's a picture I stole from Facebook.


My boys! Oh my god. I'm not sure my heart can handle all of this.
All right! I have to go to town to see the child again and get the foods I need to make for the Mary Moon Traditional Post Baby-Having Meal. 

And in three and a half months or so, we GET TO DO IT ALL AGAIN!!!!

We are the luckiest family in the world. 

All love...Ms. Moon




31 comments:

  1. A miracle...every time. Such a beautiful boy, birth story, and family. Thanks for sharing and congratulations to all!

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  2. Ack, that picture of Owen is going to make me cry.

    What a perfect, beautiful birth.

    My first was 45 minutes of pushing, and that felt long enough... but then, I had been in labour for about 24 hours...

    My midwife said one puke is worth ten contractions... something to hold on to!

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful story. Homebirth for the win. WAter next time, maybe too?

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  3. This whole post made me cry happy tears. I love your family inexplicably and I'm so grateful you share your lives with us.

    What a beautiful birth, beautiful family, beautiful baby, beautiful life.

    Welcome to the world August, you lucky boy :)

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  4. Wow, thank you for writing this Mary. I feel as if I were there with you all! I was there in spirit, from across the pond. Congratulations Weatherford-Moon-Hartmann family! I can't wait to meet this beautiful baby.

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  5. I didn't cry until you told the story of his name and Mr. Moon.

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  6. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful event. I wish that boy a lovely life.

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  7. Thank you!!!! Home birth is a celebration of life. When our bodies are most jubilant and powerful.

    The puking did it for me too. Getting rid of any distraction inside.

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  8. So well written, thank you for taking us RIGHT THERE, and taking the time! Beautiful birth, feeling every contraction and up chucking , all of that that birthing intensity so sweetly forgotten ( the mercy of mother nature) until your writing, bringing it all back. On we go! Another gorgeous child to love and keep well. He did choose the perfect family! He IS absolutely astonishingly beautiful!

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  9. So glad to hear all is well. Every birth is truly a miracle.

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  10. This is holy. Just everything. Lovelovelove.

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  11. Am with jill Was reading along merrily feeling like I was there and then the name and Mr Moon and I had to read the rest through tears. Glorious. Loved that Lis arrived and scooped you up and drove you home. Did Lon drive your car I wonder And then the four of you and and the cocktail party in the morning. Boy's well and truly home free. Love from Old England Maggi xxxx

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  12. Beautifully told, tears streaming down at the circ desk. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  13. Such a beautiful birth story. I love his name. Gail

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  14. oh so sweet. how it is supposed to be. not in a cold clinical hospital with the nurses telling you not to be loud because it would upset the other laboring mothers. I wish I had had my babies at home but I let everyone scare me out of it.

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  15. Amazing how far we have come from all things natural. What a wonderful experience to remember.
    Carol

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  16. My heart is soaring with the beauty and perfection of August's birth. Such a glorious birth and how it should be. In your own home surrounded by family. I have had three sons all hospital births . Such a beautiful post dear Mary. Such a beautiful family. Xxx

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  17. I always wanted a home birth and this to me is what a home birth should be. Xx

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  18. I read every word of this over-the-literal-Moon post and loved every letter of every word. What a wonderful, wonderful birth story! And the pictures! And your commentary! Just wonderful.

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  19. Oh goodness. Goodness, goodness. I love a birth story, a homebirth doubly so. I can feel the emotion in your heart all the way up here in Indiana. Congratulations to your whole family!

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  20. Wowsa! How exciting!! Congratulations all ye family of Jessie, Vergil and August! So happy for all you. Sounds as close to perfect as it gets here on earth.

    Much love,
    Mindy Marc and Harley. :-)

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  21. I've just been blog-hopping and came across your blog and am now In A Heap. What an amazing post about August's arrival into the world - you had me in tears. What a wonderful little family they are and what a miracle birth is.

    Thank you for sharing and I hope, in the not too distant future, to be posting something similar about our eldest daughter who, after nursing a shattered heart, has now found a wonderful young man who has healed her completely.

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  22. I am so amazed at the whole birthing process. You have convinced me that it is good to have the birth at home. Some friends just had their second child on their sailboat. Wonderment. And then I think of my mother who had to have a C-section to give birth to me. Scary thought. So happy for all the family. And a big family it is!

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  23. I'm in tears! Warmest congratulations to you and Jessie and Vergil. I love August's name and reading about Mr. Moon bursting into tears is what did me in. "Everything is possible again." All my love.

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  24. What a wonderful birthing story. Jessie and Vergil have been natural parents from the start. They have such good role models. Congratulations one and all on another beautiful Moon Boy. x0x0x0x0 N2

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  25. what a darling story, and no wonder you are so proud of your family.. but you reared them well and in love, and they continue the journey with their own babies.. thank you for sharing in your own so clear way of writing.. you are a dream to read..x

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  26. I got tears in my eyes when Mr. Moon had to leave the room. What a lovely, lovely story.

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